History

South Side Parents (SSP) is a community organization that was formed in March 2005 by a group of concerned parents who shared the belief that all children deserve access to quality educational and enrichment programs. While we witnessed networking and resources available for children on the North Side of Chicago, we found access to these sources to be lacking or unavailable for our children on the South Side of Chicago.

Mission

South Side Parents seek to recognize, strengthen and support concerned parents by sharing resources and experiences while highlighting the importance of community involvement in improving and sustaining quality education and enrichment opportunities for all children residing on the South Side of Chicago.

Our focus are children attending school on the South Side (Boundaries include East of Dan Ryan, South of Madison, West of Lake front, North of 129th).

Vision

Children on the South Side of Chicago will be able to receive a quality education along with other enrichment programs within a 1.5 miles radius of their home. South Side Parents will be a voice in the community "Striving for Access to Educational & Enrichment Program Excellence".

Goals for 2006-2007:

1. Enroll new members who are committed to improving the educational experience for our children on the South Side of Chicago.

2. Identify high achieving, early childhood and primary schools, in each zip code within SSP identified school boundaries on the South Side of Chicago. Use these schools as models to help bring resources to other schools on the South Side.

3. Identify hidden Jewels (schools that are improving to provide a quality education, but may not be known to SSP parents), to be shared with our members.

4. Work with parents, students, administrators, faculty, staff, community leaders, and other organization to reduce the disparity in the quantity and quality of early childhood and primary school education being provided between the North Side and South Side of Chicago.

5. Provide events to educate parents about navigating the admission’s process.

6. Provide seminars to educate and inform parents about improving their neighborhood schools, parenting skills, planning for educational success, etc.; we seek not only to identify problems, but to identify solutions.

7. Lobby for an increase of affordable Chicago Park District services for children in our South Side neighborhoods.

8. Link SSP members to extra-curricular enrichment programs available on the South Side of Chicago.

9. Foster networking and collaboration among South Side Parents members, and other resources to ensure that our children are receiving a quality education that will make them productive members of society.

10. Provide an on-line chat medium for parents to discuss child-related or parenting-related topics.